admin- Headline Inflation (Year-on-Year) – National level
The headline or overall inflation is 1.35 percent in September 2024 as compared to 2.05 percent in August 2024. This brings the national average inflation from January to September 2024 to 3.13 percent. This trend was primarily driven by rise in Food and nonalcoholic beverages.
1.1 Food Inflation
The Food inflation increased to 3.78 percent in September 2024. Within the Food category, the Food & nonalcoholic beverages index recorded an increase of 4.18 percent, while the Alcoholic beverages & betel nuts index saw a drop of -1.11 percent.
1.2 Non-food Inflation
The Non-food inflation dropped to -0.98 percent in September 2024 from 0.99 percent in August 2024. This downward trend in the non-food category was mainly driven by decrease in the indices of Transport, and Housing & utilities to -7.38 percent and -0.87 percent, respectively.
- Headline Inflation (Month-on-Month) – National Level
Month-on-month inflation dropped to -0.10 percent in September 2024, down by 0.49 percentage points compared to August 2024. This was primarily driven by Transport (- 2.90%) and Housing & utilities (-0.65%).
- Regional Headline Inflation (Month-on-Month) –Capital City – Thimphu
Month-on-month inflation for the capital city decreased to -0.15 percent in September. This increase was driven by a 0.52 percent rise in the Food index and a -0.76 percent drop in the Non-food index.
- Central Region (Bumthang, Dagana, Sarpang, Zhemgang, Trongsa, Tsirang)
In September 2024, the month-on-month inflation for the central region decreased to – 0.13 percent compared to the previous month.
- Western Region (Gasa, Punakha, Thimphu, Wangdue Phodrang, Haa, Paro, Samtse, Chhukha)
In September 2024, the month-on-month headline inflation of western region dropped to -0.06 percent. This was mainly driven by decrease in the index of Non-food.
- Eastern Region (Monggar, Trashigang, Trashi Yangtse, Lhuentse, Pema Gatshel, Samdrup Jongkhar)
In September 2024, the month-on-month headline inflation rate for the eastern region decreased to -0.21 percent, mainly driven by a decrease in the Non-food index.
- Annual average Headline Inflation for 2023 – National Level
The annual average national headline inflation from January 2023 to December 2023 eased to 4.23 percent in 2023, down by 1.41 percentage points from 5.64 percent in 2022. The downward trend in inflation were primarily driven by a slower annual increment in non-food index which decelerated to 4.44 percent in 2023. Average food inflation rose to 3.97 percent, up by 0.02 percentage points from 3.95 percent in 2022. This moderate rise in food index was mainly driven by increase in the index of alcoholic beverages and betel nuts, which rose to 4.62 percent, an increase by 3.46 percentage points from 1.16 percent in 2022.
In 2023, the non-food index decelerated to 4.44 percent, from 7.10 percent in 2022. This deceleration was primarily due to a drop in communication and transport index to 1.06 percent and 0.85 percent respectively. However, significant drivers of inflation in the non-food category included health with an increase of 12.47 percent, housing and utilities with an increase of 8.21 percent, and clothing and footwear with an increase of 6.90 percent, among others.
- Purchasing Power of the Ngultrum – National Level
The purchasing power of the Ngultrum, as measured by CPI, stood at Nu. 56.4 as of September 2024 as compared to December 2012. This means, Nu. 100 in September 2024 is worth only Nu. 56.4 at December 2012 prices. The Purchasing Power of the Ngultrum has eroded by 1.33 percent in the last year (from September 2023 to September 2024) due to price increases in the economy.
For detailed information, please visit our website at https://www.nsb.gov.bt/publications/price-statistic/consumer-price-index/